The “American” Accent

Posted on by Jason Coleman

William Labov, author of Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of Language Change, appeared recently on the David Pakman Show, where he discussed the misconception of an American accent, explaining that America can be divided into fifteen regions with distinct dialects. What’s more, many of these accents, or dialects, are still evolving. Labov describes the Northern Shift, a dialect associated with Great Lakes communities such as Buffalo and Detroit, and explains how its growth has been almost unnoticed. He also tries to pinpoint how the New York accent, as well as various Southern accents, became stigmatized as unsophisticated or undesirable. The whole conversation can be viewed below or by following this link.

 

Rouhani Calls for “Moderation”

Posted on by Jason Coleman

This fall we will be bringing out Independence without Freedom: Iran’s Foreign Policy, in which one of the great commentators on modern Iran, R. K. Ramazani, summarizes six decades of political history in this volatile and important nation. With the election this summer of a new president, Ramazani has several important questions about the future of Iran and the promises made by its new leader.

Hassan Rouhani’s surprise landslide victory in Iran’s elections astounded Iranians, Americans, and much of the world. In his victory speech, he claimed he would travel the road to “moderation.” What does this mean? Is he a “mianeh ro” or “e’tedal,” meaning middle of the road or just man, or alternatively, is he simply against extremism? If so, is he a “centrist” and “pragmatist,” responding flexibly to different situations, or is he, as he has been called, “the diplomatic sheikh”?

To put it differently, is he a follower of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who, during his presidency in 1989-1997, sought little conflict with the West and catered to the governments in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia? Or is Rouhani remembering Rafsanjani for making room for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to ascend to the role of the Supreme Leader of Iran? At the time, I called Rafsanjani and Khamenei the riders of a “docharkheh-e donafari,” that is, riding a bicycle made for two.

Alternatively, is Rouhani trying to follow Mohammad Khatami, who created room for détente with the world in 1997-2005, made the world a safer place for the people of Iran by giving them a modicum of individual liberty and freedom of speech, and committed himself to a “dialogue among civilizations” throughout the world?

There is little doubt that the people who supported Rafsanjani and Khatami cast their vote massively in favor of Rouhani. The confrontational policies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005-2013 damaged the people of Iran. He claimed at the outset that “America needs us,” not the other way around. Rouhani criticized Ahmadinejad for his “careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks,” such as his threat to wipe Israel off the map and his denial of the Holocaust. He indirectly blamed the influence of extremists and radicals on the poor relationship between Iran and major powers of the world.

Finally, what has he said about “moderation”? In a series of speeches, he has tried to explain what he means by this term, mentioned in the New York Times only in one paragraph on June 30. This neglect in the Times and elsewhere in the Western press is unfortunate, since Rouhani has spelled out what he means: “Moderation in foreign policy means neither submission nor hostility, neither passiveness nor confrontation. Moderation is active and constructive interaction with the world.”

Since the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iranian presidents have pursued an overall aspirational paradigm that I call “spiritual pragmatism,” embodying two conflicting elements. President Rouhani has elaborated. He says, “Moderation covers a wide spectrum. It begins with belief and convictions and leads to norms, behavior and action. It begins with economic and political affairs and leads to social and cultural issues.”

Rouhani’s views exemplify spiritual pragmatism, which begins with belief and convictions, spirituality, and leads to norms, behavior, and action, pragmatism. But they also reflect a contradiction that has not yet been resolved in Iran’s foreign policy. At the time of the adoption of the Iranian Constitution, there was tension over whether the rights of the people would be given the greatest priority or the rights of the faqih, and this conflict persists in Rouhani’s statements.

By covering decades of Iranian foreign policy decisions, my new book investigates what I call Independence without Freedom: Iran’s Foreign Policy. I try to place Iran’s foreign policy in the context of what I call “diplomatic culture,” defined as those values, norms, mores, institutions, modes of thinking, and ways of acting that have developed over centuries, have survived change, and continue to shape Iran’s foreign policy making to date. Rouhani might aspire to combine spirituality and pragmatism, but like his predecessors, he will be entangled in the endemic, unresolved problem of choosing between the right of the people and the right of the faqih.

R.K. Ramazani is Edward R. Stettinius Professor Emeritus of Government and Foreign Affairs. His forthcoming book is Independence without Freedom: Iran’s Foreign Policy.

New Buildings and Photos in SAH Archipedia

Posted on by David Sewell

SAH Archipedia has been expanded to include 1371 new building entries, including 857 from Buildings of Michigan and 514 from other states, along with 75 new photographs and updates to about 2400 entries.

Encompassing the architecture of the Upper and Lower peninsulas, which are surrounded by four of the Great Lakes, the newly incorporated material from the revised edition of Buildings of Michigan explores the state’s history and surveys the architecture of Detroit and many other cities and villages. The range of buildings and places includes early inns and houses along the Sauk Trail, the mine locations of the Copper and Iron ranges, the sandstone architecture of the Lake Superior region, the concrete buildings of Alpena, lighthouses and lifesaving stations of the Upper Great Lakes, the state’s numerous bridges, the great houses of automobile industrialists in Grosse Pointe, the factories of Albert Kahn, the mid-twentieth-century buildings of Alden B. Dow and Minoru Yamasaki, and contributions of numerous local architects who have added to Michigan’s architectural heritage. The up-to-date content introduces sites from the recent past and the present; discusses broad sweeping cultural landscapes, historical parks, greenways, and linear parks; and showcases triumphs in historic preservation.

Over 500 entries from other states in the BUS series have been added following review of geocoding, and metadata has been reviewed and corrected for 2400 additional entries. SAH Archipedia now contains a total of 11736 building entries.

Photographs contributed by former BUS editor in chief Damie Stillman have been added to illustrate building entries from Colorado, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.

Open Position: Editorial and Technical Specialist, Rotunda

Posted on by David Sewell

NOTE: as of 10 September 2013, although this position is open in the UVA HR system, we have selected finalists and are no longer actively reviewing applications.

The University of Virginia Press seeks to hire an Editorial and Technical Specialist for XML/metadata within our Rotunda division, which publishes peer-reviewed born-digital scholarly works. The incumbent in this position will be working primarily on SAH Archipedia, an ongoing reference work authored by the Society of Architectural Historians. Secondary duties will involve our Founding Era collections and Founders Online, and other Rotunda publications. Continue reading →

The Twelfth Temple

Posted on by Jason Coleman

In 2012, Robert Sibley shared his experiences on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in his book The Way of the Stars. Sibley’s latest book, The Way of the 88 Temples, chronicles his journey on the Henro Michi, one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in Japan. Located on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four islands, the pilgrimage comprises 88 temples and covers nearly 900 miles. Publishers Weekly has said of the book, “Sibley’s acute psychological observations are interwoven not only with vivid details but historical and cultural contexts of the ancient Shikoku pilgrimage. Throughout his journey, Sibley asks himself—and the travelers he meets—why walking the path is important. While he finds no one answer, this accomplished narrative demonstrates that the impulse to seek inner change through a physical journey, if mysterious, is enduring.”

Following is an excerpt from The Way of the 88 Temples.

*          *          *

I started out thinking of my pilgrimage trek as little more than an adventure—a “secular journey to sacred places,” as a Japanese sociologist puts it. But walking twenty to thirty kilometers a day for two months has both physical and psychological consequences. By the end of my trek, I was no longer able to dismiss the spiritual dimensions of the Henro Michi, including the presence of Kōbō Daishi, as mere folk superstitions. There were too many serendipitous situations and synchronistic circumstances for me not to wonder if someone, or something, was watching over me. I set out on one kind of journey but ended up on a very different one. This, of course, was not unusual. Pilgrims are often subject to “psychosomatic sensations,” and these sensations “are often the most significant aspects of pilgrimage in the view of the participants themselves.”

I knew none of this as I sheltered from the rain beneath the shōrō, or bell tower, at Shōsanji temple. I was just grateful to have reached the twelfth of Shikoku’s eighty-eight temples. I’d visited the first eleven temples during my first two days of walking. It had seemed easy. But this day, my third, was a killer. I walked—staggered—for nearly nine hours, covering fourteen kilometers along a trail that climbs and de­scends three mountain ranges. By late afternoon, when I reached the final steep staircase that climbs to Shōsanji, I was trembling with ex­haustion. My leg muscles burned and my back ached from the load of my pack. I was seeing spots in front of my eyes. Worse, the worm of uncertainty had crawled into my mind: the prospect of two months on the road was suddenly daunting. Rational or not, ringing the tem­ple bell was a gesture of defiance against the demons of doubt as well as an expression of thanks to whatever deities might exist for having delivered me from my inadequacy. It was also an appeal, superstitious though it might have been, for the gods’ help in the weeks to come. Standing beneath the shōrō, looking across the temple courtyard to the distant mountains, with my thigh muscles twitching in relief, I thought I would need it.

The Way of the 88 Temples is available now.

D.C. Treeathlon

Posted on by Jason Coleman

Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author of City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Washington, D.C., will be leading a tour of the national capital’s trees. Dubbed the Treeathlon, the tour will take place on September 22, via foot, bicycle, even canoe. Places on the tour are limited, so if you’re interested you should register as soon as possible. Sounds to us like a great opportunity to see D.C.’s arboreal riches.